When automobile and truck oil filter elements are replaced, the used filters are typically disposed of in regional landfills. However, a substantial amount of residual oil is wasted because it remains in the filters and it is also a ground and water pollutant. Furthermore, the filters are bulks and take up a substantial amount of space. The invented device addressed these problems and operates to extract oil and eliminate air space from oil filters.
Previously existing devices that could be used to crush and extract oil from oil filters generally include a plunger that compresses an article against a bulkhead. The bulkhead may form part of a chamber within which the article is crushed. The chamber may also be used to guide the plunger.
Additionally, the chamber of a crushing device may include a floor with an aperture near the bulkhead. When the article is crushed against the bulkhead, its volume is decreased sufficiently so that the article may fall through the aperture. Alternatively, crushing devices have employed floors that reciprocate between an opened and a closed position, allowing a crushed article to fall from the chamber when the floor is open.
Other crushing devices have been designed to allow liquid to be extracted from an article during crushing. However, such devices have had difficulty in directing the extracted liquid to a collection area different from the area receiving the crushed articles.
The invention device extracts liquid from articles while simultaneously crushing the articles. After an article is crushed, the liquid is directed to a collection area and the crushed article is directed to a separate receptacle. When used an oil filters, the invented device recovers trapped oil and eliminates the wasted space within the filters so that they may be disposed of easily.